SBI general Insurance Company is a joint venture between two companies namely the State Bank of India and Insurance Australia Group (IAG). State Bank of India owns 74% of the company while the Insurance Australia Group owns the remaining 26%. The year of 2013-14 was the fourth year of operation of the company where the company registered a growth of 54% by writing a Gross Premium of 1188 crores. In the same year the company in association with State Bank of India covered over 1.5 crore Saving Accountholders of the State Bank of India with a Group Personal Accident Insurance cover. SBI General insurance company offers different categories of insurance plans including motor insurance, health insurance, travel insurance, personal accident insurance and home insurance for individuals. Other specialized insurance plans include aviation insurance, fire insurance, marine insurance, package insurance, construction & engineering insurance, liability insurance, group health insurance, group personal accident insurance and miscellaneous insurance plans for businesses.
Why Personal Accident Insurance Cover?
In the modern age which is so fast-paced and enhanced with comforts which were considered a luxury in previous times, contingencies are not far behind. With every comfort comes the relevant uncertainty of facing a contingency which would involve a financial loss. The usage of cars and two-wheelers has increased because of the developing economy where more and more people can afford to own a vehicle. With this development, there is an increased chance of accidents both for the vehicle owners and for the pedestrians otherwise plying on the road. An accident may result in death or disability either temporary or permanent in nature. Both these scenarios will affect the financial standing of a person and thus, insuring oneself with a Personal Accident Insurance plan is the most effective way for guarding against the loss suffered.
Personal Accident insurance Plans offered by SBI General Insurance Company:
SBI general Insurance Company offers two types of Personal Accident Plans which are Group Personal Accident plan and Individual Personal Accident Plan. Let us take a look at the plans in details to facilitate a better understanding of each of them.
Group Personal Accident Insurance Plan
The plan is offered to a group of individuals for the State Bank of India and its associated banks. The group of individuals may be the accountholders of the bank’s savings account, fixed deposit account, loan account, current account, etc. A Master Policy is issued in the name of the entity covering all the listed members. The features of the insurance plan under the Group Personal Accident cover are as follows:
- The group insurance plan covers the loss of life resulting from an accident
- The Sum Assured can be chosen by the customer as per his requirement
Eligibility
- The plan can be bought by any permanent Indian Resident having either a Savings Bank Account or a Current Account with the State Bank of India or any of its associated banks.
- The individual must be aged between 18-65 years.
Exclusions
The plan does not cover every contingency. There are certain exclusions which are excluded from the scope of coverage of the plan. The exclusions are as follows:
- Suicide and self-inflicted injury
- HIV or AIDS infection
- Individuals enrolled in any branch of police, paramilitary, military and armed forces any country whether in peace or war are excluded from the scope of cover
- Accidents which occur under the influence of alcohol, drugs or any other intoxicants
- Accidents due to participation in riots, felony, crime or civil commotion
- Accidents during learning or operating any aircraft
- Accidents in cases of war, civil war, invasion, insurrection, revolution, act of foreign enemy, etc.
- Nuclear damage
- Accidents due to participation in adventure or dangerous sports
- Child birth and pregnancy related complications
- Accidents caused due to willful participation in any illegal act or any violation or attempted violation of the law or resistance to arrest
Sample rate of premium
The following rates of premiums are charged for the respective Sum Assured amount
| Sum Assured | Premium |
| Rs.2 lakhs | Rs.100 |
| Rs.4 lakhs | Rs.200 |
| Rs.10 lakhs | Rs.500 |
| Rs.20 lakhs | Rs.1000 |
Individual Personal Accident insurance Plan
An individual personal accident plan covers death, disability and loss of income suffered by an individual in the event of any accident suffered. The features of the insurance plan are as follows:
- The plan covers death of the insured due to an accident, disability suffered due to an accident and also loss of income due to the accident which impairs the health of the insured individual
- Additional add-on covers are available with the plan which includes Hospital Confinement Allowance and Ambulance Charges
- In case of a Permanent Total Disability, the benefit paid also includes add-on coves like Education Benefit and Adaptation Allowance at no additional cost to the customer
- The facility of cumulative bonus is also available which can be availed by the insured to enjoy greater benefits
- The plan can be taken by an individual alone or for his entire family in which case the benefits enjoyed by the family should always be lower than that enjoyed by the individual
- Accidental Death is a compulsory cover granted to the customer and other covers like Permanent Total Disability, Permanent Partial Disability and Temporary Total Disability cover can be availed by the customer as per his voluntary choice.
- The plan can be taken in any of the following combinations of:
-
- Accidental Death
- Accidental Death + Permanent Total Disability
- Accidental Death + Permanent Total Disability + Permanent Partial Disability
- Accidental Death + Permanent Total Disability + Permanent Partial Disability + Temporary Total Disability
- The premium charged will depend on the cover opted for as per the above list
- The Permanent Total Disability benefit also offers the options of Education Benefit and Adaptation Allowance at no extra cost to the customer. Under the Education Benefit option, the insured’s child and spouse will be entitled to receive Rs.50, 000 or 1% of the basic Sum Insured whichever is lower for each child or spouse up to a maximum of 2 individuals on proof of enrolment to a Government approved Education facility when the insured suffers a permanent total disability due to the accident
- Under the Adaptation allowance option, the company pays the cost to modify the house or vehicle to deal with the physical disability at 1% of the basic Sum Insured or Rs.25, 000 whichever is lower.
Additional Add-on Covers under the plan
The Personal Accident plan offers two add-on covers which can be opted by the insured by paying an extra amount of premium. The covers are discussed below:
- Hospital Confinement Allowance – if the insured suffers an injury due to an accident in India for which he is hospitalized, the company pays a daily allowance of Rs.1000 / Rs.2000 / Rs.3000 as per the plan option chosen by the individual up to a maximum of 15 days for the entire period of the policy
- Ambulance Charges including Air Ambulance – in case the services of an ambulance, including an air ambulance, is availed by the insured for transportation to the hospital from the site of accident or from the hospital to the insured’s place of residence (only in case of accidental death or Permanent Total Disability) or from one hospital to another hospital, the charges for such ambulance services will be borne by the insurer. The ambulance coverage is available only if the Accidental Death Sum Assured is Rs.5 lakhs and above and the amount of charges admissible will be 10% of the Accidental Death Sum Assured subject to a maximum of Rs.1 lakh per policy period.
Eligibility Criteria
The following points are necessary to be observed as the eligibility criteria for availing the insurance plan:
- The plan can be availed by salaried, self-employed and business class individuals
- The minimum age at entry, i.e. at the time of buying the policy is 18 years and the maximum age up to which the coverage can be taken is 65 years.
- Minor children aged 3 months and above can be covered as dependents if either of the parents is covered by the plan. The maximum age of covering dependent children is 23 years.
- The plan can be availed for the family as a family floater plan. The family can consist of self, spouse, dependent children, dependent parents and dependent parents-in-law.
- The minimum and maximum amount of coverage available under the plan is Rs.1 lakh and Rs.10 lakhs.
- The Sum Assured that can be availed for Accidental Death Benefit and Total Permanent Disability benefit is a maximum of 120 times the gross monthly income or 10 times the gross annual income from gainful employment or occupation
- The Sum Assured available under the family floater option to dependent children, dependent parents, dependent parents-in-law and a non-working spouse is limited to 20% of the Sum Assured of the primary insured or Rs.10 lakhs whichever is lower.
- The weekly indemnity benefit payable under the Temporary Total Disability Benefit is 1% of the Accidental Death Sum Assured subject to a maximum of Rs.10, 000 per week for a maximum of 104 weeks.
- For Accidental Death Sum Assured ranges of Rs.25 lakhs and above, a copy of the self-attested latest income proof which can be either the latest 3 Salary Slips or Form 16 or Income Tax Returns need to be submitted to the company along with the completed Application Form.
Cancellation of a Personal Accident Plan
The Personal Accident Plan is available for a period of 1 year. The customer, however, may cancel the plan before the said period which is allowed at the proportionate amount of premium. The table below depicts the period of risk and the proportionate premium required for the respective period:
| Period of Risk | Required percentage of annual Premium |
| Less than 1 month | 25% |
| 1 month to less than 3 months | 50% |
| 3 months to less than 6 months | 75% |
| 6 months and above | 100% |
The company may also cancel the plan if it is found by the company that there has been a misrepresentation, fraud or non-disclosure of material facts on the part of the customer. Such a cancellation will be done by the company after serving a notice to the customer 15 days in advance before cancelling the plan.
Exclusions
The plan does not cover every contingency. There are certain exclusions which are excluded from the scope of coverage of the plan. The exclusions are as follows:
- Any accident due to suicide, attempted suicide whether the insured was sane or insane or an intentional self-inflicted injury, mental or nervous disorder.
- Accident due to and in the course of employment in any branch of the Military or Armed Forces of any country, whether in peace or war.
- Accident while being under the influence or abuse of drugs, alcohol, or other intoxicants or hallucinogens unless they are properly prescribed by a physician and taken as per the prescription.
- Accidents due to participation in an actual or attempted felony, riot, crime, misdemeanor, or civil commotion
- Accident during air travel except as a fare paying passenger on a recognized airline or charter aircraft
- Accident occurring while operating or learning to operate any aircraft or ship, or performing duties as a member of the crew on any aircraft or ship.
- Any accident/loss arising out of War, civil war, invasion, insurrection, revolution, act of foreign enemy, hostilities (whether War be declared or not), rebellion, mutiny, use of military power or usurpation of government or military power
- Any injury caused by, contributed to, or arising from nuclear ionizing radiation or contamination by radioactivity from any nuclear fuel or from any nuclear waste or from the combustion of nuclear fuel (including any self-sustaining process of nuclear fission) or nuclear weapons material or nuclear equipment or any part of that equipment
- The dispersal or application of pathogenic or poisonous biological or chemical materials; The release of pathogenic or poisonous biological or chemical materials, or Congenital anomalies or any complications or conditions arising there from
- Participation in winter sports, skydiving/parachuting, hand gliding, bungee jumping, scuba diving, ballooning, mountain climbing (where ropes or guides are customarily used), all forms of skiing (including but not limited to snow or water), riding or driving in races or rallies using a motorized vehicle or bicycle, caving or pot-holing, hunting or equestrian activities, skin diving or other underwater activity, rafting or canoeing involving white water rapids, yachting or boating outside coastal waters, participation in any Professional Sports, any bodily contact sport or/and any other hazardous or potentially dangerous sport for which the insured has not received nay training
- Any loss resulting directly or indirectly, contributed or aggravated or prolonged by childbirth or from pregnancy,
- Any accident from committing breach of law with criminal intent.
- Loss caused directly or indirectly, wholly or partly by infections (except pyogenic infections which shall occur through an Accidental cut or wound) or any other kind of Disease.
Applying for Personal Accident Plans from SBI General
The company offers Personal Accident application through multiple channels like:
- Individuals desirous of availing any plan can simply call the helpline of the company and speak to the customer service representative.
- They can provide their name, mobile number and email id on the website of the company and request for a call back
- Online Individual Personal Accident Plans can be simply applied to by clicking the ‘Buy Online’ tab mentioned on the plan page on the website of the company.
- The customers can also write to the company at their email id which is customer.care@sbigeneral[dot]in for any related queries.
SBI General Personal Accident Insurance- FAQs
1. How to pay a premium? What are the modes of payment available?
The SBI General Insurance company Ltd. offers 6 modes of premium payment namely:
- Cash payment at the branch
- Online Payment
For the online payment mode, the policyholder can pay via;
- Credit Card
- Debit Card
- Net banking
2. How can I check policy status for SBI general personal accident insurance?
For registered online users, login to the website with your plicy details and check the status.
3. What is the policy renewal process for SBI general personal accident insurance?
You can visit the website to renew your policy
Step 1: Login with your policy details on the e-Portal
Step 2: Select the policy and payment mode ( Net Banking, Debit/Credit Card)
Step 3: Print/save cyber recipt of your payment
Alternatively, pay via cehqe/debit at the nearest branch to renew your policy.
4. What is the company’s process to settle claim for SBI general personal accident insurance?
You need to intimate the company on the toll free number or you can send the i-claim on company’s mail id. Upon successful completeion of the documentation, the clain is settled within 30 days.
5. What is the policy cancellation process for SBI general personal accident insurance?
If the vehicle is liability covered you can ask for the cancellation of the policy. For the cancellation of the policy, just visit the nearest branch.
